Typographical distributing machine



April 14, 1925 D. S. KENNEDY TYPOGRAPHIGAL DISTRIBUTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 16", 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO NEYS l x l l l f l F I Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UNITED STA-TES PATENT ,'orricr..

DAVID s. `KENNEDY, or BROOKLYN, NEW Yoan, assitancel To MEnGEN-THALER Lino- 'Nrn ooMrANY, A conronarion or NEW Yann.

'rYroGn-Arnrclin DISTRIBUTI'NG MACHINE.

Application filedAugust 16, 1923. `SeiaVNo 657,657.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Davie S. KENNEDY, a citizen ot `the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typographical Distributing Machines, of which the tollowing is a specification, reiterencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawing. i

This invention relates to typographical machines,.such as linotypemachines o-t' the general organization represented in U. S. Letters Patent to O. Mergenthaler, No. 436,- 532, wherein circulating matrices are released from a magazine in the order in which their characters are to appear in printand then assembled in line, the composed line transferred to the tace of a slotted mold, the mold filled with molten metal to form a slug` or linotype against the matrices which produce the type characters thereon, and the matrices thereafter returned through distributing mechanism to the magazine from which they started.

There are now in use two distinct kinds of machines, one designed for the use o'l" ordinary matrix fonts comprising ninety different characters suitable for the more usual composition or straight matter, and the other designed Jfor special matrix fonts comprisingonly seventy-two characters suitable for head letter and display work, etc. It is the object of this invention to provide a single machine capable ot handling any of the ordinary matrix Jfont-s or any of `the special matrix fonts so that such machine may be used for any class of work desired. Such a machine is disclosed in either oit my prior Letters Patent Nos. 1,397,974 and 1,- 397,968. In the latter patent, the machine is equipped with two interchangeable distributor bars` one having ninety tooth-combinations to cooperate with the matrices of the ordinary fonts, and the other having` seventy-two tooth-combinations to` cooperate with the matrices of the specialionts. In the former patent, a single distributor bar having ninety tooth-combinations is employed to cooperate with matrices or both kinds, but the tooth-combinations of the matrices of the special. fonts are located in relatively. different setwise throughout each set (as distinguished from the tooth-combinations et the ordinary fonts, which are arranged in theeanic positions i wise position throughout each setiin order to provide for the distribution ot the matrices into the appropriate nels.

The present invention contemplates a construction whereby the matrices` of both the ordinary and special fonts may be distributed into their proper magazine channels from a single distributor bar, and this without involving any change in location of their tooth-combinations or any other changein form, except, ot course, as to thickness.` To this end, specifically, there` is provided a pair of notched-matrix sustainingl railsto cooperate with the distributor bar and adapted to be moved into or out of operative position as required, eithermanually or automatically. These rails are maintained out of operative positionl when matricesot the ordinary or ninety character fonts arel in use, so as to allo-w said matrices to drop directly from the bar in the usual manner `for passageto theirl appropriate magazine channels but when matricesA of the special or seventy-two character fonts are in use, the rails are maintained in operative position so as to afford temporary support to said matrices when released from the` distributor bar and then 4drop them at other selected point-s for passage to their appropriate magazine channels. i

In the accompanying drawi gs, the toregoing improvements have been illustrated in connection. lwith a shiftable multiple-magazine fmachine of the kind., known v,in the trade as Model 8, but it should be understood that they are' equally applicable magazine chanto machines of other kinds, includingl those of the single-magazine variety.

In short, `the invention vis shown ,merely in preferred form and by wayy of example, and obviously many changes and modifications may be made therein and in its mode ot adaptationwithout departing from its spirit.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig.` l is a side view, partly in section, oit

the upper portion of a linotype machine equipped Vwith the prese-nt improvements;

Fig. l is a siinilar'view showing a modiication;

Fig. 2 is a detail section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, the distributor bar being shown in broke-n lines;

Fig, 3 is a front view, partly broken away,

of the distributing mechanismy kshown in Fig.1;

Fig. t is a side View similar to Fig. l but showing the parts in a different condition; and

Fig. 5 illustrates a further modification.-

In. the embodiment illustrated, the matrices X of the ordinary ninety character fonts are stored in the two upper magazines A and A1, Which are provided with ninetyone grooved channels spaced apart in the usual Way, while the matrices Z of the special seventy-two character fonts are stored in the loWermost magazine A2, which is provided with but seventy-three grooved channels spaced apart ina diierentv manner, an extra channel in eachcase being allotted to matrices bearing the letter e. The several magazines are mounted in a shift-trame which is arranged to be raised and lowered in the Well known manner, so as to bring any selected one of the'magazines into operative relation to the distributor comprising, as usual, the longitudinally ribbed or permuted bar B and the set of' matrix conveying screws B1. Vhen either of the magazines A, A1, is in operative position, the m'atrices X are conducted thereto from the distributor through the regular magazine entrance C; Whereas, Whenk the lowermost magazine A2 is in operative'position, the matrices Z are conducted thereto from the distributor through the special magazine entrance C1. These Ytvvo entrances differ in the number and spacing of their matrix channels so as to correspond with the respective magazines, and are mounted so as to be interchangeable in position With each other for the purpose stated. The particular form of mounting herein shown is fully described in my prior Letters Patent No.`1,897,972, to which reference may be had, sothat no further explanation seems necessary.

As before stated, the present invention is designed to provide for the' distribution of the matrices of both the ordina-ry and special fonts from the distributor bar Without involving any change in form of the matrices in the diiierent fonts. In the specitic embodiment illustrated, there is employed a pair of matrix sustaining'rails D extending alongthe opposite sidesv of the distributor bar B and movable into or out ot' operative position, as required. Then the matrices X ot a regular font are undergoing distribution, the two rails occupy an inoperative position so as to stand clear of such matrices and allow them to drop directly into the proper channels of the magazine entrance C for return to their corresponding magazine A or A1, as the case may be. On the other hand, when the matrices Z ot a special -tont are undergoing distribution, the rails occupy an operative position so as to extend beneath the upper ears Z1 of said matrices and give temporary support to the latter when they are released from the distributor bar. As best shown in Fig. v2, the rails D are formed on their inner edges with oppositely disposed notches dto per-v mit the matrices Z to drop from the rails at selected points in the length thereof, there being as many such pairs of notches as they are matrix channels in the magazine A2 and the cooperating magazine entrance C1, or seventy-three in all. As best shown in Fig. 3, the releasing points of the rails D, as determined by the notches al, are in most cases located beyond the releasing points of the distributor bar B, as determined by the particular tooth-combinations used in distributing the matrices Z, the Whole arrangement being such that after the matrices ZA have been released from the distributor bar B, they are carried forward varying distances by the rails D and then dropped into the underlying channels of the magazine entrance C1. In other Words, the spacing of the rail notches is different from that of the' bar combinations, the latter being spaced apart in `accordance With the spacing of the matrix channels of the magazine A or A1 and the cooperating' ent-rance C, and 'the former being spaced apart inv accordance with the matrix channels of thc magazine A2 and the cooperating entrance C1. In this connection, it may be noted that, as in my prior Letters Patent No. 11,397,974, the tooth-combinations on the matrices Z have been rearranged to correspond with the different location oi their magazine channels, as will be apparent from Fig..3. The movement of the rails D into or out of operative position may be eected in any suitable manner, but in the present instance, it is proposed to effectv such movement automatically. Sevcral different embodiments being shown by Way of example.

In Figs. l to 4, one oi' the matrix sustaining rails D (the front one) isk carried by a pair ot arms D1 pivotally suspended from a horizontally disposed rod D2 attached by brackets D3 to the distributor bar B. One ot the arms D1 is formed With a stop member D* adapted to engage the front face of the distributor bar and locate thc rail in its proper position when in use. About mid,- way ot its length, the rail D is provided with a depending bar D5 arranged to be engaged by a projecting piece DG secured to the `front plate of the magazine.k entrance C. As a rcsuit, when the entrance C .is brought into action, as required for the distribution oi" the matrices X of the` ordinary fonts, the rail D will be pushed forwardly out of the Way (see Fig. 4), so as to stand clear of the matrices X when they are released from the distributor bar. The other of the rails D (the rear one) is mounted directly upon the magazine entrance G1 so as to be carried thereby into tion effects a correspond-ing* Lthis entrance is brought into action for the dlstrilnfltion of the matrrces Z et tl'iel special fonts, hotlr .oi' the matrix sustaining1 rails' ivi-ll be'locatecl in operative position so as to*A carry out the' distribution of' the matrices Z in the manner before indicated tsee- Fig. 1)-, Ithe front rai'll being located in its operative' position by means ot the stop D4, and the rea-1" rails being located iin its operas tive.A position directlyjby the entrance C1.- lVhen the entrance CT is later' thrown out ci" i action, the rearl rail Will,A of: course-,be cars ried" along therewith and will* remain out oi operation until the entrance is again brought intousc. The front rail, on the other hand, will occupy' its operative position at alt times except when lthe magazine entrance C is in use.

In Fig'. 5, the rear rail D, instead of beL ingr carried by the magazine entrance C1, is mounted on the distributor bar Bi like the front rail, being; carried by a pair of arms D7 pivotallty suspended tronr a' transverse rod Ds attachedby brackets D9 to the distributor bar. nthisinstance,` the arms D1 and DT of the tWorails are provided with eX- tensions D10 extending' transverseltyr across the distributor bar through a slot formed in its upper edge and connected" together pin-and-slot connection D, so that they movement oftV one rail to and from operative posimov-em'ent' of the? other rail'. A spring DQT?" attached to the' iront rail tends constantly to lrol'dthe tivo rails vin their inoperative. position, but this' tendency' o'l" the springt iis resisted and overcome by means of a p-late Dm carried by the magazine entrance C1 and adapted to engage the rear rail?. Consequently when the magazine entrance C is ,brouglit into action for the distribution ot the matrices Z V.of "the special fonts, the tivo rails are moved to and maintained in their operative position, as required. hen, however, the entrance'C thrown out of action, the two rails are moved instantly to their inoperative position under the infiuence ot the spring D12, so that when the other magazine entrance C is brought into action, the matrices X ot the ordinary ton-ts may be distributedin the usuat way Without interference with the rails.

In Fig. l, both et the rails D are carried by the magazine entrance C1, and hence are located in or out ot operative position ac co-rding as that entrance is swung into or out of action. lt. will be. understood'that these tivo rails are separated at their receivingends so as to aliciv the matrices to passv lonto the distributor bar Without interference;

In ali three emi'iodiments above discussed, the movement of the two matrix sustaining scribed,

rails is controlicd by; that oit the magazine entrances. Eny Fig; 5, however, there is shown'4 by' dotted'. Lines a modified arrange ment of the parts by. which the movement ot the rails may' be controlled by' that of themagazines. Arceordiing` toL modiif.-A cation, the platemay be omitted. from the magazine entrance C1', and a similarpilate DM attached! to the upperl magazine in' position to engager a bar D515 pr zjlecting4 downwardly from the front rail' D?, .in suclfr manner that when' said magazine is: moved into operative position, the matrix sustains` ing rails D, through. the engagement of theplate DM andi harfDl, willl likewise be moved to operative position. In this case, hosvever, the magazine A52@ which contain-s' the matrices Z ci" the special tent, should be located! at the topo-t the column in place ot the magazine A. y i

VVl-'ril'e thev foregoing improvements*have been here-in ,iflflustraitedl in connection with the regna" and special7 fonts: before die should he understood that they are equal'ty applicable to other matrix fonts as Wellf. For inst-ance, the commercial' Modei 22 machine, ory as: rep-resented in miy prior Letters Patent No. 1,397,967', the spes cial seventy-two character matrix fonts are usedl ifntercl y titty-five char eter fonts. To apply the present improvements toa m-.acliifnfe offy that' kinda', the distributor bar would only' needl toY have seventy-three tooth-combinations to: cooperateA with the seventy-two-character fonts, and the matrix sustaining rails only titty-tive pairs ot releasing notches tol co-` operate ivith the fiftjjcharacter fonts. In: tact, the improvements would! be useful? in any machine in. which ift is desired to drop' matrices directly' from the distributor bar at one time andai: diii'erent selected points at other times, it being possible to provide the rails Witlfil as many pairsfot releasingl notches as may be required 'i'or the particular purpose in view. Indeed, the rails mig-flirt be formed with `a single set` of notches or with no notch-es, at alli, it the occasion should arise. In other Words, the invent-ion has been shown only in preferred 'ioifm` and by' Way 'ot example, and? as app-lied to the pa=rticular kind oft machine described, but obviously many modifications vand alterations therein and in its mode of adaptation will suggest themselves to those sliilied in the art and still comprised Wit-hin its scope. Having thus described my invention, its

`construction and mode ot" operation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the Unite-d States, is as follows:

l. A typographical distributing` mecha nism including, in combination, adistributor bar 'termed to releasev a matrix at. one point,pand cooperating' mea-ns adapted to give support to said released matrix and a geably Witlr other special drop it at a different point, said means being movable into or out of action, as required, according to the distributing point of the matrices undergoing distribution.

2. A typographical distributing mechanism including, in combination, a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, and cooperating means to give support to the released matrices and drop them at other selected points, said means being movable into or out of action, as required, according to the distributing points of the matrices undergoing distribution.

A typographical distributing mechanism including, in combination, a distributor bar, and a pair of matrix sustaining rails adapted to cooperate therewith and movable conjointly into or out of operative position, as required.

4.v A typographical distributing mechanism including, in combination, a distributor bar formed with aA series of matrix releasing combinations, and aI pair of matrix sustaining rails adapted conjointly to support mat-rices released from the bar and drop them at predete-rmined points, said rails being movable into or out of operative position, as required.

5. A typographical distributing mechanism including, in combination,a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, and a pair of matrix sustainingrails extending along the opposite sides of the bar and movable into or out of operative position, as required, said rails being notched at different points in their length and act-ing conjoint-ly when in operative position to release the matrices at corresponding points.

6. In a typographical distributing machine adapted to be equipped with different sets of matrices, those of each set being provided at their upper ends with projecting ears, the combination of a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, and a pair of matrix sustaining rails extending along the opposite sides of the bar, said rails being mounted so as to be movable into or out of `engaging relation to the matrix projecting ears, as required according to the set of matrices undergoing distribution.

7. In a typographical distributing machine adapted to be equipped with different sets of matrices, those of each set being provided at their upper ends with projecting ears, the combination of a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, and a pair of matrix sustaining rails extending along the opposite sides of the bar and movable into or out of engaging relation to the matrix projecting ears, as required according to the set of matrices undergoing distribution, said rails -being `nism including in combination, a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, and a pair of matrix sustaining rails movable into or out of operative position, as required, and formed with a series of matrix, releasing notches, the said notches being arranged directly opposite each other on the two rails and spaced apart differently from the bar combinations, for the purpose described.

9. In a typographical machine adapted to be equipped with a magazine provided with matrix channels spaced apart in one manner, or with a magazine provided with matrix channels spaced apart in a diterent manner, the combination of a distributor bar common to said` magazines, and means cooperating with said bar whereby the matrices may be distributed therefrom into either of the magazines to the exclusion ot the other irrespective of the different spacing of their matrix channels.

10. In a typographical machine, the combination of two magazines, one provided with matrix channels spaced apart lin one.

manner, and the other provided with matrix channels spaced apart in a different manner, a distributor bar common to both magazines, means for establishing an operative relation between said bar and either of the magazines,`and means cooperatingwith the distributor bar whereby the matrices may be distributed'therefrom into the magazine in use to the exclusion of the other, irrespective o the spacing of its matrix channels.

ll. In a typographical machine, adapted to be equipped with interchangeable magazinesprovided with diiierently spaced matrix channels, the combination of a distributor bar formed with a series oi. matrix releasing combinations spaced apart in accordance with the spacing of the matrix channels of one magazine, a pair of matrix sustaining rails cooperating with said bar and formed with matrix releasing notches spaced apart in accordance-with the spacing of the matrix channels of another mag'- azine. and automatic means for moving the matrix sustaining rails into or out' of operative position according to the magazine in use.

l2. In a typographical machine, the combination of two magazines provided with differently spaced matrix channels, means for selecting either of said magazines for use, a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations spaced apart in accordance with the lspacing of the matrix channels of one magazine, a pair of matrix sustaining rails cooperating- `with said bar and formed With matrix releasing notches spaced apart in accordance with the spacing ot' the matrix channels of the other magazine, and automatic means for moving the matrix sustaining rails into or out of action according to the magazine in use.

13. In a typographical machine, the combination of two magazines provided With diiferently spaced matrix channels and movably arranged so that either may be brought into operative position, a distributing bar formed with, a series of matrix releasing combinations spaced apart `in accordance With the spacing of the matrix channels ot one magazine, a pair of matrix sustaining `rails cooperating with said bar and formed with matrix releasing notches spaced apart in accordance with the spacing of the matrix channels of the other magazine, and automatic means for moving the matrix sustaining rails into or out of action according to the magazine in use.

14. In a typographical distributing machine adapted to be equipped With interchangeable magazine entrances provided With differently spaced-apart matrix channels, the combination of a distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations spaced apart in accordance with the spacing of the matrix channelsl of one magazine entrance, a vpair of matrix sustaining rails cooperating With said bar and formed with matrix releasing notches spaced. apart in accordance With the spacaccordance With the spacing of the matrixchannels of one magazine entrance, a pair y of matrix sustaining rails cooperating With said bar and formed with matrix releasing notches spaced apartkin accordance with the spacing of the matrix channels of the other magazine entrance, and means controlled by the movement of the magazine entrances for moving the matrix sustaining rails into or out of action according to the magazine entrance selected.

16. In a typographical machine, the combination of two matrix magazines, means for selecting either of said magazines for use, a common distributor bar formed with a series of matrix releasing combinations, a pair of matrix sustaining rails adapted to cooperate Withsaid bar, and automatic means for moving said rails into or out of operative position according to the maga-' zine selected. y

In testimony whereof, Ihave affixed my signature hereto.

DAVID S. KENNEDY. 

